Tagged With "Centro de Textiles del Mundo Maya"
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Nov 20th, 2014: Playa Del Carmen. Mexico
You'll often find you've made a new friend in Mexico. Maybe leave a few crumbs on your sun lounger. Or a bag of goodies worth climbing into. But these guys love to catch the sun on your towel. Gives them a break from burning their...
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And life was never the same again: How Barcelona stole my heart
Can you recall a moment from your travels that has really shaken your soul? A moment that has changed you forever? Well, here's mine. As I sat watching that sun set over Barcelona from the incredibly beautiful Parc Güell earlier...
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Memphis, Tennessee 3) The rest of the city
There’s a lot more to Memphis than Graceland, although Graceland is by far the city’s most popular attraction (which I’ve previously discussed here ). A city of about 650,000, Memphis has a...
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The Magic Worlds of Sintra
On our third day in Portugal, we took the train to Sintra. Sintra is such a wonderful, beautiful little town. Even walking around Sintra felt magical—just look at the city hall building, or the charming little sidewalk! ...
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Visiting Versailles
Among the many wonderful palaces of Europe, Versailles is said to be the greatest and grandest of them all. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and is on almost every traveler’s list of “must see”...
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The Loire River Valley
Many find a visit to the Loire Valley to be the highlight of their visit to France, as did we. When we were planning our journey I discussed our itinerary with my friend, Wayne. Wayne and his wife had...
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The Medieval Fortress and Town of Chinon
There are few places in France of greater historic importance than Chinon. You wouldn’t know that by what you see when you drive thru it today as it seems a small sleepy rural town. You’ll see little evidence of...
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Musee de Confluences Opens in Lyon Tomorrow
Wikimedia Photo- Tibidibtibo The Musee de Confluences in Lyon...
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Lisbon's Jeronimos Monastery and Tower of Belem
Our first day in Lisbon was awesome. We got to see so much of the city, and watch the sunset from a castle. On our second day in Lisbon we took the train to Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and Torre de Belém...
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Changing Trains in La Serenissima
My English friend and I left the beautiful apartment on the Anfiteatro in Lucca , she home to Bromsgrove in the West Midlands, and I toward Budapest and my old friends with a guesthouse near the famous synagogue. I was treating myself to...
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A Day in Lisbon
Lisbon was our first stop in Portugal. Getting around Lisbon was easy, we were able to take the Metro from the airport to where we were staying without any problems. We got the LisboaCard at the airport, which seemed like a great deal, but when we...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Nov. 3, 2013: Brandenburg Gate
Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate is surely one of the world’s most-recognized landmarks, and symbolizes Berlin in the way the Eiffel Tower means Paris and the Parthenon means Athens. It’s been the ceremonial center for marches and...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Oct. 27: Paris's Stravinsky Fountain
The Stravinsky Fountain, its figures inspired by Stravinsky’s music (and especially the Rites of Spring), is one of my favorite places in Paris to sit and watch people, especially children. It’s sandwiched into a plaza between the Pompidou...
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Montreal: Je Me Souviens
There are many great cities to visit in Canada, two of my favorites (for different reasons) being Vancouver and Montreal. Vancouver has one of the most breath-takingly beautiful settings of any city in the world, and I’ll be discussing it...
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Quebec — A Walled European Fortress In America
Quebec, like New York, is both a city and a state (or rather, a province). It’s an island of French heritage and culture within our Anglo-North American continent. We combined this visit with stops in Montreal and...
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Capital of Culture Series: Marseilles
Marseille Cathedral, near the Vieux Port I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Marseilles this past June and was very impressed. It really is an excellent example of what the Capital of Culture designation can do for a city. Have a walk...
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Lisbon: Cheap, but Steep!
That’s my short take on Lisbon after two weeks there last summer. A variety of economic factors, not all connected with the Euro crisis of the past few years, have made Portugal incredibly cheap for foreign travelers—but you have to be...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, February 25, 2015. St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is celebrating its 450 th birthday in 2015 and everyone’s invited! It was in 1565 that Pedro Menendez of Aviles proclaimed the land for Spain. The first Catholic mass was held at what is now the Mission de Nombre de Dios by...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, February 8, 2015: Toledo and Madrid
My first solo trip was to Madrid and Toledo in Spain. I had been travelling for years, but always in a group. This time I was on my own, and a little petrified. I shouldn't have been as Madrid is easy to get around and the...
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Washington Oaks Garden: a Peaceful Paradise in Florida
With all that Florida has to offer, you'd think it would be hard for anybody to pick a favorite place in the state. In my case though, it's not. By a mile,my favorite place is Washington Oaks Gardens State Park. Washington Oaks is one of the most...
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San Juan's El Morro: Layers of Stone, Layers of History (Where Gumbo Was, #84)
El Morro, the giant fortification that's guarded San Juan Harbor for nearly 500 years, is the sight we saw before we saw it. Its image is everywhere when you do online research for a trip to Puerto Rico; its "garitas"—small domed...
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El Yunque: A visit to the rain forest
When we began planning a trip to Puerto Rico, and planning to include our 14-year-old granddaughter, we sent her some of the material we were gathering and asked her what her priorities were. She, and we, both had El Yunque right near the top of the...
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Six Reasons Why Lisbon Made Me Nostalgic for San Francisco
A feeling of déjà vu washed over me when we landed in Lisbon and set out on foot to explore the city for the first time. As the days passed, I finally figured out what it was. Lisbon totally reminded me of San Francisco...
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San Juan, Puerto Rico: Outside the Walls
Because Puerto Rico was the first freshwater island for 16th-century travelers from Spain, and because it guards the entrance to the Caribbean, its Spanish masters went out of their way to defend it, not only with the huge fortifications at the...
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A summer trip to Valencia, Spain
Last Summer, in 2014, I went on an internship program in Valencia, Spain. My internship took place in a nice hotel near the center of the town and lasted 3 months. While I was there I could visit and enjoy many touristic points while also...
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Old San Juan: Beautiful...and not all old
San Juan, Puerto Rico is a city of contrasts, of modern skyscrapers, crowded residential areas of different eras, resort hotels and casinos along Condado, and much more...but the image that usually comes to mind is really that of Old San Juan, the...
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Casas Particulares in Cuba
Visiting Cuba has forever changed the way I view accommodations when I travel now. For one I was always a chain hotel kind of girl racking up my points and being loyal to said luxury chains. I had the option to book luxury hotels in Havana...
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The Airport...and how it got that way
You've all probably got an airport you hate, and a favorite (or perhaps least-hated) one. And I'm sure you've often wondered why they put the baggage claim there, and why the food is over there, and why it just so often seems to be two miles to the...
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Who Is Puerto Rico's Artisanal Ice Cream King?
That's a tough question...and can only really be decided by tasting and tasting and tasting and...well, we couldn't spend all our time at it, could we? So, intrigued in advance by tales of great ice cream and unusual flavors, we identified...
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Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Where Gumbo was #108
Gumbo was visiting one of Paris' greatest museums, the Musee d'Orsay. Congratulations to TravelGirlJenn who recognized it, with minimal clues! If any one else figured it out, they did not let us know. (One of the...
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Enjoying the Wonderful Sites in Zacatecas, Mexico
Millions of tourists visit Mexico every year, mostly in the winter as people like to get away from the freezing temperatures and snow in the north. Almost all of these people visit the tourist cities of Cancun, Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas,...
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Florida warned: take action against future flooding
17th c. Castillo de San Marcos, guarding America's oldest city, may be endangered by rising waters. With all the jokes about earthquakes in California creating ocean-front lots in Nevada, it's easy to forget that things are changing in numbers...
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Walking the Burgundy Canal
Several years ago, after the completing 100+ miles of England’s Cotswold Way, over hill and dale and, at times, experiencing painful difficulties, I resolved to give up hills in favor of walking along waterways, of which there are many,...
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The Stravinsky Fountain, Paris
I have quite a few favorite places in Paris, but I think the Stravinsky Fountain is the only one I've gotten to on every visit. I never get tired of it, or of watching children marvel at it, or of the whole idea of this wonderful whimsical...
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Britian's Famous Attractions Get Literal Chinese Names
VisitBritian announced the winners in their 'Great names for Great Britain ' campaign The campaign used the existing trend of the Chinese to give literal names to favorite celebrities, places and foods. Over 2 million Chinese visited the...
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A Brief Visit to Avignon
The center of Avignon with the Rhône and l'Île Piot in the distance. The purpose of my stop in Avignon was a pause in a pleasant small city, between arriving in France and the week I planned to spend in Uzes. I recalled...
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Visiting Santiago de Cuba
I really had no idea what to expect of Santiago de Cuba , afterall the next biggest city in Cuba is always overshadowed by Havana. So Santiago was going to surprise us - it could only leave a good or a bad impression right? We showed...
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Norwegian Cruise Lines Wants $4 More a Day Per Passenger
Norwegian Cruise Lines' chief executive officer, Frank Del Rio, goal is to double per share income and return on invested capital in three years. To do that ,he wants to increase profits from existing ships and curtail discounts .Mainly he...
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A Day in Caguas
Caguas is a late-comer by some standards; San Juan, 30 miles away, was already 250 years old when Caguas was settled by Spain—and yet it proudly calls itself “La Ciudad Criolla” and “El Corazon de Borinquen,” the Creole...
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New technologies for de-icing are in the wings
OK, I apologize for the double pun...but it's true in both ways. The ritual of de-icing planes before winter take-offs is costly, time-consuming, and known to be effective, so while many companies are working on ways to do it faster, cheaper or...
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"World's scariest walkway" re-opens; may be safer
A skinny walkway crossing a mountain face above a gorge in Spain has been rebuilt and re-opened; it was closed in 2001 after five deaths, but people just wouldn't stop walking it. The new version has safety features and requires a helmet, but is still...
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Government St., Mobile: A Great Historic Street (Pt. 1)
I haven't heard anybody else say this, especially in the local area, but Government Street in Mobile, Alabama is one the most spectacular historic streets in the world, even today. I had a chance to walk a good portion of Government St. in March of...
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Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Quebec. Where Gumbo was, #73
Gumbo was visiting the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, a massive church set near the banks of the St. Lawrence River in the Canadian province of Quebec. Congratulations to GarryRF for being the first to recognize the site, and...
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Route 66 - Pasadena to Needles
Last summer I had the opportunity to do something I had always wanted to do - drive a significant portion of Route 66. Having spent 4 days in LA, I started a drive to Albuquerque to meet up with The Amazing Ms. D. Instead of rushing down the...
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Jerez Cathedral and Neighbors: Where Gumbo Was (#75)
Frequent-solver Roderick Simpson identified Gumbo's locale as the Cathedral of Jerez, in Spain. Another frequent contributor to the solutions spotted lots of clues: Spanish garb of non-angel statues, size not huge and cathedral not wealthy...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, November 13, 2014: Statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, Kuhio Beach in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii
Duke Kahanamoku (August 24, 1890 – January 22, 1968) is a legend in the world of surfing, but this was only one of his many great achievements. Duke (aka "The Big Kahuna") was born in Honolulu and grew up in Kalia, Waikiki (near...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Nov. 12, 2014: Paris Compressed
Taken with 18x telephoto lens from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, this shot squeezes in a lot of familiar Paris, with even more suggested here and there in the middle. There's a corner of the Louvre, the dome of Invalides, Notre Dame at...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, November 22, 2014: Orvieto
Almost at the end of a round-the-world trip, idling in Rome with nothing in particular planned until our flights home, travel pal Jim and I decided to take the train to Orvieto for a wander around on a gray Christmas Eve. The old town...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Dec. 31, 2014: Sunset, Charleston
If fireworks at midnight are de rigeur for welcoming the New Year, perhaps a fiery sunset is a fitting way to say goodbye to the old. Of course, this one is not really today's but it will do. I took this picture, and its cloudy companions, from the...
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Charleston's Cathedral of St. John the Baptist: Where Gumbo Was (#76)
Visiting Charleston recently, I was struck by its handsome cathedral and unusual spire. The church seems reasonably well-rooted in the 19th century, but the tower reminded me of the turn-of-the-last-century church of Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre ...